Each parent considers it his duty to put the child in the car in the safest place. Many believe that the safest place in the car for the baby is located behind the driver. This view is based on the fact that in the event of an emergency, the driver will turn the steering wheel to the left, unconsciously trying to protect himself from the impact.
In addition, according to statistics, the largest number of accidents in Russia belongs to head-on collisions, and often car manufacturers make the left side of the car more resistant to deformation in the event of head-on collisions than the right one. Therefore, during crash tests, the cars are "hit" with the left side.
Do not deny many and alternative views, based also on statistical data. It is believed that most crashes with a head-on collision happen due to the exit of the car to the oncoming lane, so the impact is on the left side of the car. According to this, the safest place is ahead to the right of the driver, because this part gets the least damage. However, no studies have been conducted on the territory of the Russian Federation to confirm these theories.
In the USA in 2006 scientists of the University of Buffalo conducted an analysis of accident statistics for 2000-2003. As a result, they concluded that the safest place in the car is the seat in the center of the rear seat. And in general, the back seats are safer than the front by about 73%. The middle seat is more spacious in the rear, compared to other places in the car, and there is no "squeezing" of space during the collision. This is a very important reason for his safety. But it is important to understand that there are more side collisions in the USA than frontal ones, because the lanes on freeways are often equipped with concrete fences, and the rules for driving at traffic lights are very specific. American car manufacturers have made them less vulnerable on the sides, but more prone to deformations with frontal impacts. In Russia, there are more head-on collisions.
It is most easy to put a child car seat in the rear seats, which form a kind of "sofa". It is clear that the rear seats are best suited, in which there are three separate full-sized armchairs. It is for this reason that it is usually recommended to put children's car seats at the middle seat of the rear row for five-seat cars and to the middle seat in the rear or middle row of seven-seater cars.
However, which is very bad, in most cars the average seat is not suitable for installing a child car seat. Models of class C usually have a fold-out armrest built into the middle seat, and in many hatchbacks and sedans (and sometimes even universals), the rear seats can be folded in a ratio of 60:40, because of which the average seat is not more than one-fifth of the total area .
Parents who have three (or more) children often complain that they can not put three children's car seats in the back seat, but they overlook the fact that this possibility depends more on the size of the car. If there are several children in the family, then, as a rule, a car of class C will be tight, even without car seats. In domestic cars, such as "nine", "tens" and others, the seats are even smaller. If the family has more than four children, then the most reasonable option here is the purchase of a seven-seater car or you need to have more than one car, and two more.
There are two main methods for securing child car seats in the passenger compartment. The most common is to do this with the help of seat belts, which are included in the car kit. With this method, most car seats can be secured. The second, less used, option is the Isofix system. This system consists of metal guides installed in the car seat, which have special locks on the ends and sturdy brackets that are installed in the car seat. This system is considered more safe and convenient, but has a significant drawback - not every car can be equipped in this way, which explains its low popularity.